Crewe manager David Artell hopes to find out Carlisle Utd's strengths and weaknesses from ex-Blue Michael Raynes

Raynes made 97 appearances for the Cumbrians in his two-year stint with the club but he will come up against his former side for the first time since switching Carlisle for Crewe this weekend.

The 29-year-old defender has made an encouraging start to life at Crewe, although Artell's men have lost four of their last five matches in all competitions.

"Michael was at Carlisle for two seasons and was part of a successful team. It will be strange for him coming up against his old employer but he will know what he is coming up against," Artell said.

"He will know their weaknesses and their strengths, and that could help us. I will have a chat with him and try to pick his brains a bit."

Another man set to come up against his old club is striker Shaun Miller, who started his career with Alexandra, as he looks to build on his stunning equaliser against Barnet in last Saturday's 1-1 draw at Brunton Park.

"Michael would have trained with Shaun and will know what he is good at and what a good finisher he is," Artell said to Crewe's website.

"I’m the same because I trained with Shaun when we were players here. He scored a great goal at the weekend and, like Michael, he will want to show his former club that he's in form."

Despite recent results, the Railwaymen are still three points and three places ahead of Keith Curle's men in the League Two table after eight games. But boss Artell will not be under-estimating United.

He said: "They have a massive catchment area. There is a good supporter fan-base and they always have a strong budget to work with.

"They just missed out last season. They just couldn’t get over the line and get to Wembley last season [losing to Exeter in the play-off semi-final].

"Carlisle were up there all season and went 20 something games unbeaten [16 league games and 22 in total] at the start of the season. That was a terrific achievement because it's a tough league."